Guest Post: The empty side walks of my block are not the same
Jim Buck, a regular visitor to Diddy Wah, has been turning me onto great underappreciated bands via email for a little while now. He has a solid knowledge of late 60s music (unlike me, he was actually there) and the urge to share, so I invited him to do a guest post. When asked about himself he told me that he went to the first Glastonbury and provided his blue suede sandals hold out, he'll go to the next. Please make him feel very welcome.
The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee
The Left Banke - Pretty Ballerina
The Left Banke - Desiree
'Walk Away Renee' was composed by a sixteen year old Jewish kid from New York. His name was Michael Lookofsky -- a brilliant name: look of sky. God knows why he changed his name to Brown: Michael Brown.
Let's be grateful that Renee Fladden was happy with her name. When Lookofsky was introduced to her, Renee was the girlfriend of Tom Finn. Finn had been the bassist with folk-punk band, The Magic Plants, who were recording their first single at World United Studios in New York when he met Lookofsky. The studio was owned by Michael’s father Harry, a gifted professional violinist. He had endowed his son with the finest schooling in classical music and doors were also opened into the world of contemporary music; by the time he was fifteen, Michael was a backing musician for the soft rock girl group, Reparata and the Delrons. Lookofsky brought these influences to The Left Banke -- a quartet of 17 year olds formed shortly after the fateful meeting between himself, Tom Finn, George Cameron (drummer with The Magic Plants) and vocalist Steve Martin.
But more fateful was the meeting with Finn’s girlfriend, Renee. Lookofsky was reported as being instantly besotted with Renee. He went off and wrote the song which has immortalised her name, as well as another, 'Pretty Ballerina', inspired by her grace and beauty. The songs were recorded in beautiful baroque arrangements -- Martin’s firm but unformed falsetto vocals enunciating Lookofsky’s lyrics -- but Lookofsky walked away from the band before 'Walk Away Renee' was ready for release.
The song came out in July 1966 and in October it peaked at Number 6 in the Billboard charts. The band reformed to capitalise on the success and released 'Pretty Ballerina' as the follow up single. That too made the top twenty. Other releases were less commercially successful: 'Desiree' was the last single by The Left Banke to chart in the U.S.
As for Renee, she moved to Boston with her family shortly after the Left Banke recorded 'Walk Away Renee'. No one in the group ever saw her again.
The Left Banke Fan Page
The Left Banke
The Left Banke - Walk Away Renee
The Left Banke - Pretty Ballerina
The Left Banke - Desiree
'Walk Away Renee' was composed by a sixteen year old Jewish kid from New York. His name was Michael Lookofsky -- a brilliant name: look of sky. God knows why he changed his name to Brown: Michael Brown.
Let's be grateful that Renee Fladden was happy with her name. When Lookofsky was introduced to her, Renee was the girlfriend of Tom Finn. Finn had been the bassist with folk-punk band, The Magic Plants, who were recording their first single at World United Studios in New York when he met Lookofsky. The studio was owned by Michael’s father Harry, a gifted professional violinist. He had endowed his son with the finest schooling in classical music and doors were also opened into the world of contemporary music; by the time he was fifteen, Michael was a backing musician for the soft rock girl group, Reparata and the Delrons. Lookofsky brought these influences to The Left Banke -- a quartet of 17 year olds formed shortly after the fateful meeting between himself, Tom Finn, George Cameron (drummer with The Magic Plants) and vocalist Steve Martin.
But more fateful was the meeting with Finn’s girlfriend, Renee. Lookofsky was reported as being instantly besotted with Renee. He went off and wrote the song which has immortalised her name, as well as another, 'Pretty Ballerina', inspired by her grace and beauty. The songs were recorded in beautiful baroque arrangements -- Martin’s firm but unformed falsetto vocals enunciating Lookofsky’s lyrics -- but Lookofsky walked away from the band before 'Walk Away Renee' was ready for release.
The song came out in July 1966 and in October it peaked at Number 6 in the Billboard charts. The band reformed to capitalise on the success and released 'Pretty Ballerina' as the follow up single. That too made the top twenty. Other releases were less commercially successful: 'Desiree' was the last single by The Left Banke to chart in the U.S.
As for Renee, she moved to Boston with her family shortly after the Left Banke recorded 'Walk Away Renee'. No one in the group ever saw her again.
The Left Banke Fan Page
The Left Banke
Labels: guest post, original version, rock
